Gary Martin Presented Super Slam Award

Friend and bowhunter Gary Martin is presented a Super Slam Award at the 7th Annual Grand Slam Club convention.

Gary receiving the award.

Gary poses with his award at the recent Wisconsin Bowhunters Association annual convention.

In late February, Gary, along with a number of other accomplished bowhunters, attended the 7th Annual Grand Slam/OVIS Club Convention in Las Vegas, NV. They were recognized at the event for their outstanding achievements. The interesting thing for me is that these aren’t gents we see bows named after or on television shows touting the latest piece of (ahem) “must have” gear. Of those I have met they are often quiet, everyday folks who live and love the bowhunting life.

For those readers that may not know the Super Slam is defined as harvesting 29 species of North American big game animals. At one time there were just 28 species to take as when Chuck Adams accomplished the feat, but a fairly recent addition of the Tule elk, read more here, expanded the number to 29. The number of actual species didn’t grow, but the general ability for everyone to harvest one did.

Gary completed the North American 28, or Super Slam, in 2008. When I asked him where he stood in order of those who’d completed the NA 28 and 29 with a bow he said, “This gets confusing. They haven’t assigned numbers yet, but according to my data I was the first in Wisconsin, the 16th person to accomplish the NA 28 and the 8th person to accomplish the NA 29.” For Gary the quest started around 1980, took twenty years and was accomplished with a bow.

So, what’s next for this Super Slam Bowhunter? Sometimes I think that if I were to accomplish such a thing I’d need a nap. Twenty-five of the twenty-nine species Gary has taken qualify for Pope and Young. He intends to take new representatives of the four “non-book” species that do qualify for Pope and Young. With 4-5 bowhunts still scheduled each fall and late winter, not including local whitetails or turkeys, he’s a busy bowhunter that shows no sign of napping.